September 28, 2004

Quelle Suprise

Psst --- I've a secret. C'mere.

I'm in America.

Yup. Massachusetts, to be exact. It was my grandparent's 50th Anniversary this weekend, and my aunt offered to fly me out as a surprise, since she has a million bajillion frequent flyer miles. I, of course, was all 'bout it. So I got here on Saturday for the party and skip out tomoorw back to the Emerald Isle.

I've got to say, I'd think it'd be weirder, coming back to the States so abruptly and briefly. But instead it's been unexpectedly normal --- I came straight from the airport to the my grandparents' house, where I found various of my aunts and uncles setting up in the back yard, and they were all like "Hey! It's so great to see you! Here, help me move this table." All day I kept getting double takes --- people would walk in and see me and not think anything of it, and then about ten seconds would go by and they'd start and go, "Wait a minute. Why are you in this hemisphere?" And that's pretty much how I feel about it, if you get my gist. Although it has been very nice to see everybody. I had dinner with my immediate family on Sunday, and then we all sat down and made fun of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The family that snarks together, stays together.

So, obvioulsy, I have no new Irish hijinks to relate. But I do have something entertaining to direct your attention to: Amira's Photo Blog

See, Amira just moved to Cairo. Pehaps soon she will post (or I will recieve permission to post) her evocative emails about that legendary ancient city, but for now you'll just have to settle for looking at the pictures and imagining yourself reclining on the cusions on the floor in your living room (whose thick walls and vaulted ceiling are built to absorb the searing desert air) listening to the bicker-bargining in the souk below while the mingled scent of spiced lamb and jasmine drifts into your nostrils, as I do. Or in other words, looking at the pictures and wishing you were as cool as Amira.

Speaking of which, another friend of mine, Melot, has been sending me emails from his travles in Asia with his girlfreind Isolde. Apparently he's stayed in a yurt, been to the Forbidden City, and learned how to give the finger in Chinese from a cabby.

c, you rock. i had a really shitty day...but then i came home and cooked for two hours and took a cold shower and had a cigarette. then i went on the internet and read this. it was nice. so odd the way we imagine things is rarely how they feel in real time. still, cairo's pretty alright...as far as chilling in a different culture in another hemisphere. i went to the fruit market yesterday. it was pungent and covered with corrogated metal. there was produce at the front, and then, as you penetrated, there was far more: cheese, eggs, live rabbits, chickens, bigger birds, and then lots of fresh meat, being sliced, hanging near my head, sitting still...